South Korea is facing more investigations on import restrictions from major countries this year due to growing protectionism worldwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Korea International Trade Association(KITA) on Sunday, South Korea saw the launch of 23 new investigations on suspicions of anti-dumping and safeguards in the first six months of the year, up four from a year earlier. 

Currently, South Korea is subject to 219 import regulation measures. Of them, 164 are anti-dumping duties, while 46 others are safeguard measures and nine are countervailing duties. 

South Korean steel and metal products took up the largest portion of the restrictions, accounting for 47 percent. 

The United States and India were found to impose the most regulations on South Korean goods.